Shir’s update:
“Yam le yam has definitely been an opportunity I don’t think any of us will forget. the 5-day, 4-night, hike has been full of new challenges, but I know that each of my classmates has really pushed themselves to really get the most out of this experience.
Day 1:
On Monday, after a 2-hour drive from Agron, we arrived at our starting point and ate a quick lunch before heading out. we also had a birthday celebration for Hannah Stoch with some delicious chocolate brownie cake. Our goal for the day was to reach Nachal Amud, a small stream of water that led to the kinneret and gather some of that water in order to pour it into Mediterranean Sea at the end of our hike on Friday. to pass the time during the hike, we had some great conversations, listened to music and took in the peaceful and lush atmosphere of the forest. We ended our hike by returning to our starting point, and then took the bus to our campsite for the night. Luckily, we were able to celebrate our first day of yam le yam by buying ice cream and other snacks at our camp site! We also got lucky with this campsite because it turned out to be the only site with real bathrooms!!!!!!!! The rest of the afternoon, we all hung out and relaxed together until dinner. We all knew dinner would be amazing because of our desert experience hikes that were taken care of by the same organization, Tzukim, and we all had some delicious schnitzel with vegetables. Once it got dark and we had a fire going, we all huddled together for warmth and just kept the good conversation flowing until bedtime.
Day 2:
Day 2 of Yam le Yam started bright and early with a 6:45 am wake up. we needed to pack everything up and take a short drive to our starting point, but first we enjoyed a pre-breakfast snack of bread, chocolate spread, tea and biscuits. According to Rob, this hike was supposed to be the hardest one of the week, because a majority of it was uphill. However, we were all so lucky because one accidental turn led us away from the difficult incline to a much easier route on the hiking path called Shvil Israel. Although it was still a difficult hike, we took a lot of breaks and drank a lot of water. Even though it was a hard day, Hannah L and Oren organized a game of assassin which is a game we were able to play throughout the entire day. The game is played like this: everyone is assigned a person in the grade and a word they need to get their person to say. For example, I was assigned Rob and I needed to get him to say the word “majestic.” The basic rules are that you would need to somehow prompt your person to say the word, and if you were successful, they would tell you the person they had and that would be your new target. The game was intense, and everyone was on their toes being careful of what they said but it really did help keep our spirits high. It was also exciting to hear whenever someone new got assassinated…. We ended our hike in Hirbat Homema, which was a surprisingly popular camp site because there were at least 4 or 5 other groups staying the night. The assassin game was still going but because there was so much chatter about who was in and out, Hannah L and Oren decided to remix the people who were still in the game and give them new words and new people, meaning the game would spill into the next day. The afternoon went very similarly to the first night where we each relaxed, spent time together, had dinner, and eventually changed and did body wipe downs with baby wipes. The wipes were literally heaven sent after a full day of hiking and sweating without access to a proper shower, and it became a part of everyone’s nightly ritual throughout the trip. Later that evening, after some time spent around the campfire, and a small incident with a burning marshmallow, we all went to bed.
Day 3:
Wednesday! The halfway point of Yam le Yam. This was a really nice day because after yesterday’s intense uphill climb, the rest of our hikes would be relatively easy and downhill. We started hiking immediately from the area we slept and walked for about 30 minutes to find a breakfast spot. The area was really beautiful in my opinion because we were set up underneath a big, shady tree facing straight towards another hillside which was overflowing with lush, green trees! There were even some cows around us which added to the naturey atmosphere. After breakfast we continued walking, every now and then passing another group of hikers. Although the overall agenda for the day was the same as the past two days, our grade is very good at having all kinds of conversations and entertaining one another, so it was pretty rare to find anyone bored throughout the day. We even still had our ongoing game of assassin to keep me and my classmates excited. By the end of the hike our two winners were Emily and Ozzie, and because we all enjoyed it so much, they were chosen to set up a new round that we would play the next day. When we arrived at our campsite, it was nice to see that this area was much quieter and more secluded than our previous one. The silence and peace were important because due to it being the night before Yom HaZikaron laShoah ve-laG'vurah, Rob and our Madrichim led a short program about the Holocaust and about the importance of the day. Each of our Mishpachot met with a single madrich who told us a story related to the Holocaust, and then held a short discussion about how we were feeling and any other thoughts about the story, song, or picture we were shown. I thought the activity was very meaningful because it helped bring me back to how I felt when we were in Poland walking through concentration camps, learning about people’s stories, and digging deeper into the true history of the Holocaust. That night we each went to bed prepared for the next day, expecting to hear the sirens for Yom HaZikaron at 10am tomorrow.
Day 4:
It’s Thursday morning, only 2 more days left of Yam le Yam. I wouldn’t say I’m sad it’s almost over, buuuuttt a bed and a nice shower does sound really nice after 4 days of baby wipe showers and sleeping on the ground. We started our hike that morning by walking through the woods on a shady path, looking for a place to set up breakfast. My group made some porridge with sugar and apples and chocolate sandwiches for breakfast which isn’t the healthiest breakfast, but we work pretty well with what we have. Also, later in the day Rob mentioned we would be having a cooking competition between the hiking groups, so we wanted to save our really good food for the competition. We kept on hiking after breakfast, dodging barbed wire and hopping over streams of water, until it was time for lunch. We had a good amount of time to make food for ourselves before the competition, but once it started, each of us got our heads in the game. We had a little over an hour to make an appetizer, main course, and dessert for the panel of judges which consisted of our madrichim and our medic, Ayal. There were a few highlights from each of the groups but in the end the vegetarian group won the overall competition, which I think was just to make them feel better about being vegetarians, but that may just be my carnivorous stomach talking. Anyway, the rest of the hike was either a dry hike or a hike through water, and we were each given the option of which to do. We finished at around 4 pm and reached a little tourist viewpoint overlooking the mountains we had just finished climbing and it was breathtaking. With the sun setting, the trees looking so thick and green, and an old crusader castle nestle into the mountain across from us, the scene was just beautiful. We reached our camp later than normal, but that just meant dinner time was closer. After we each set up in our tents and changed, dinner was served, and we all shared our meal on the big mat laid out for us each night. Since we all knew it was our last night, we decided to play another grade-wide game called Kingdom. In this game, each person has to enter a random name anonymously. Once everyone did so, the names were read out loud and everyone would have to guess who wrote what name and in the end the game was a three-way tie between me, Alexis and Sam. I love playing those games because it really is heartwarming to see the grade bond and spend time together over Yam le Yam when a majority of us genuinely thought we would be miserable. After our game, we all huddled by the fire for the last time and enjoyed one another’s company until it was time for bed.
Day 5:
Day 5 of Yam le Yam! After such a long week, we finally made it to the home stretch. Everyone was excited to get to the Mediterranean either by bike or bus. I was with the group of people who biked and unfortunately for me I wiped out and fell so I couldn’t continue the ride. However, I heard from my friends on the bikes that the ride was really fun and exciting, and my friends on the bus shared that they were really happy to enjoy the relaxing drive. Either way we all came together at the Mediterranean Sea, where Oren gave a beautiful hype man, locker-style speech to the grade about our hike as he poured the water bottle from Nachal Amud (from our first day of hiking) into the Sea. Although it was too cold to actually swim and enjoy the water, Rob led us in a short reflection about Yam le Yam and also started a compliment circle for the group! We would go in a circle and one by one each person would be complimented by one of their peers and simply just be acknowledge for something funny, admirable, or inspiring that they did throughout the week. It was a very sweet end to the experience and after a short lunch we headed back to Jerusalem for shabbat. The first shower back was just amazing, it was like none of us had showered in months, and the fact we all got to get dressed up for shabbat made it all so much better! It’s great to be back at home sweet Agron.”